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Does Acts 2 Teach Communism

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  • Does Acts 2 Teach Communism

    Were they Communists?

    Link

    -------

    Was the early church a Communist movement? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.

    In Acts 2, we read about the early church.

    42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

    There are a number of people that look at this and think that this sounds like something Communistic. Don’t they have everything in common? Don’t they sell all their possessions?

    However, there are differences.

    For one, if a group of people decide to come together and do this on their own without any force, that is not Communism. Communism is done with the government leading the way. Here, there is no central government that is leading the way for the people.

    Second, they sold property and gave to those who had need. Not everyone was equal financially because some people had need and some didn’t. The text also says that they met in their homes. That means that some people had homes to meet in. We can also be sure that some things were not in common and understood not to be, such as they weren’t into wife sharing or something similar.

    Third, as a Preterist, I contend there’s a reason these people were selling property in Jerusalem. They were sure Jesus was coming some time as He promised to judge the place and bring about destruction. Land values won’t really matter at that point.

    Fourth, later on in the text, we see other people selling their land and giving it to the cause. As we see in Acts 4:

    32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

    36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.

    Here, we see the same thing going on. People still have land and people are still selling it and goods are being distributed to people who have need. This is also something the people are entering into willingly.

    In Acts 5, we have the chilling case of Ananias and Sapphira.

    Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

    3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

    5 When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6 Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.

    7 About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?”

    “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”

    9 Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”

    10 At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11 Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

    Now this seems like a harsh punishment? Lying about money? What’s the big deal. This was a fledgling church movement and nothing was really done privately. People would find out what happened and if these two got away with it, everyone else could as well. Greed quickly comes into a church and tears it down. Not only that, these people were grabbing honor as if they had given everything when they had not.

    Yet note that this is said to be their property. They could do with it what they wanted. They weren’t forced. When they sold it, the money was theirs. If they wanted to, they could have kept some of the money for themselves and just been honest with the apostles about it. Sure, it would have likely been seen as shameful behavior, but it would have been honest.

    Next, in Acts 6, Greek widows say they are being overlooked when it comes to the distribution of food as Hebrew widows are getting more. Again, you have people in need and who are they really? They are the people in that society most likely to be unable to provide for themselves. Again, this is not exactly a commune.

    Finally, this is the only place we see this happening in the New Testament. It doesn’t show up in any of the churches outside of here. As I contend, there’s a reason that it only happens in Jerusalem.

    Now I don’t think Communism is an effective way to care for the poor and capitalism is far better, but that is another post. I could be hypothetically wrong on that and still right on the point about the early church. For now, those wanting to say Communism works better are not going to be benefitted by looking at the early church.

    In Christ,
    Nick Peters
    (And I affirm the virgin birth)
    Support my Patreon here.

  • #2
    For the most part it seems that those most likely to claim that the New Testament teaches socialism or communism are also among the most likely to dismiss what the New Testament is actually teaching.

    I'm always still in trouble again

    "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
    "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
    "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

    Comment


    • #3
      This is seriously low hanging fruit. Not only is it obviously anachronistic (Karl Marx would not be born for another 18 centuries), but anybody with any sense of reading comprehension should note that there was no sense of legal compulsion for these Christians (to say nothing of Acts 5 acknowledging that Ananias and Sapphira still could have kept some of their money).

      What Christians who correctly note all this tend to overlook is that the text still should be uncomfortable for modern Christians, who are left with the question of whether they *should* be pooling their resources. Craig Blomberg does tackle this question in his survey of a biblical view of money, Neither Poverty nor Riches. Taking into account the entire Bible and hints from the rest of the New Testament about how later Christians approached the subject, he ends up concluding that the text neither endorses this practice as normative for all time, nor does the Bible clearly discourage it moving forward.
      "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
        This is seriously low hanging fruit. Not only is it obviously anachronistic (Karl Marx would not be born for another 18 centuries), but anybody with any sense of reading comprehension should note that there was no sense of legal compulsion for these Christians (to say nothing of Acts 5 acknowledging that Ananias and Sapphira still could have kept some of their money).
        Bingo!

        What Christians who correctly note all this tend to overlook is that the text still should be uncomfortable for modern Christians, who are left with the question of whether they *should* be pooling their resources. Craig Blomberg does tackle this question in his survey of a biblical view of money, Neither Poverty nor Riches. Taking into account the entire Bible and hints from the rest of the New Testament about how later Christians approached the subject, he ends up concluding that the text neither endorses this practice as normative for all time, nor does the Bible clearly discourage it moving forward.
        Still marveling at the jargon.

        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post

          Bingo!



          Still marveling at the jargon.
          I've thought about starting a thread on it.. but I have a really hard time not using big words when typing. That's just how I think. Sometimes I look at what I read, twice... and try to dumb it down both times. I'm not trying to appear smart; I more just have a fear of sounding like I'm talking down to my audience.

          I don't have that problem at all when speaking in person. It probably helps having a job where I really do have to dumb things down as much as possible.
          "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
            I've thought about starting a thread on it.. but I have a really hard time not using big words when typing. That's just how I think. Sometimes I look at what I read, twice... and try to dumb it down both times. I'm not trying to appear smart; I more just have a fear of sounding like I'm talking down to my audience.
            I was kidding - I enjoyed what you wrote.

            I don't have that problem at all when speaking in person. It probably helps having a job where I really do have to dumb things down as much as possible.
            Sometimes, when people talk "too fancy", I'll say, "OK, talk to me like I'm 3".

            You're good!

            The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

            Comment


            • #7
              That's an excellent point made in the OP about the particular time relevance for this dispersal of goods in Acts. Land values in AD 66-70 Jerusalem would be trashed, so there was no point in hanging on to property for an investment. Any amount of personal wealth in those days would only serve to make the owner a target for Zealot thievery and murder, or confiscation of goods by armies passing over the land.

              Moreover, persecution of the believers began the very day Stephen was martyred (Acts 8:1) . It was going to be very helpful if believers had liquidated their assets in order to have portable funds to take with them for necessities (and to share with others) as they fled Jerusalem and spread out over the country. Periods of persecution for believers escalated in scope until the beginning of the Great Tribulation in AD 66. At that point, Christ had already forewarned His disciples that when they saw armies compassing Jerusalem (both Roman and Zealot), they were to flee to the mountains (Luke 21:20-21). They couldn't very well take real estate with them while on the run for the mountains. Nor a vast amount of personal possessions, which would have only weighed them down in their sudden flight from Judea and the city of Jerusalem. Fortunately, around 1-1/4 million people heeded Christ's warning to flee this impending Great Tribulation period, as we can calculate by comparing the AD 66 census record made in Jerusalem with the casualty lists we have from the AD 66-70 years in Judea.

              "Travel light" was the rule in those days. Speaking of "the PRESENT DISTRESS" in those days, Paul warned the Corinthians in I Cor. 7:29, "But this I say, brethren, THE TIME IS SHORT:" (written around the time Nero's reign started) "it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none;" (because they might well be parted by imprisonment and / or martyrdom), "And they that weep, as though they wept not;" (because Christ was soon going to wipe all tears away in that resurrection soon to come) "and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not;" (because the joy of being face-to-face with Christ in that resurrection would supersede all other joys), "And they that buy, as though they possessed not;" (because the turmoil of those days would make all accumulated belongings meaningless by comparison), "And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the form of this world IS PASSING AWAY."

              That was a first-century "passing away" that was going on back THEN. Meaning the Acts account is NOT a directive to establish communism today.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by KingsGambit View Post
                This is seriously low hanging fruit. Not only is it obviously anachronistic (Karl Marx would not be born for another 18 centuries), but anybody with any sense of reading comprehension should note that there was no sense of legal compulsion for these Christians (to say nothing of Acts 5 acknowledging that Ananias and Sapphira still could have kept some of their money).

                What Christians who correctly note all this tend to overlook is that the text still should be uncomfortable for modern Christians, who are left with the question of whether they *should* be pooling their resources. Craig Blomberg does tackle this question in his survey of a biblical view of money, Neither Poverty nor Riches. Taking into account the entire Bible and hints from the rest of the New Testament about how later Christians approached the subject, he ends up concluding that the text neither endorses this practice as normative for all time, nor does the Bible clearly discourage it moving forward.
                Speaking of Blomberg, and returning to the OP and Acts 2... in his Neither Poverty Nor Riches he concluded that Acts 2 wasn't a situation where one sold off all one's goods at once but rather a periodic selling of property (noting the phrase "from time to time" used by the NIV translation in Acts 4:34) as individual need arose.

                This was not a one-time divestiture of all one's possessions. The theme 'according to need,' reappears, too. Interestingly, what does not appear in this paragraph is any statement of complete equality among believers. Presumably, there was quite a spectrum, ranging from those who still held property not sold (cf. the reference to the home of John Mark in Acts 12:12) all the way to those who were still living at a very basic level.33 But the church was committed to taking the principle of Deuteronomy 15:4 very seriously: 'there should be no poor among you' (F. Martin 1972: 46).


                I'm always still in trouble again

                "You're by far the worst poster on TWeb" and "TWeb's biggest liar" --starlight (the guy who says Stalin was a right-winger)
                "Overall I would rate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as by far the best thing Biden's done" --Starlight
                "Of course, human life begins at fertilization that’s not the argument." --Tassman

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by rogue06 View Post
                  Speaking of Blomberg, and returning to the OP and Acts 2... in his Neither Poverty Nor Riches he concluded that Acts 2 wasn't a situation where one sold off all one's goods at once but rather a periodic selling of property (noting the phrase "from time to time" used by the NIV translation in Acts 4:34) as individual need arose.

                  This was not a one-time divestiture of all one's possessions. The theme 'according to need,' reappears, too. Interestingly, what does not appear in this paragraph is any statement of complete equality among believers. Presumably, there was quite a spectrum, ranging from those who still held property not sold (cf. the reference to the home of John Mark in Acts 12:12) all the way to those who were still living at a very basic level.33 But the church was committed to taking the principle of Deuteronomy 15:4 very seriously: 'there should be no poor among you' (F. Martin 1972: 46).
                  I nearly included that as well because it's certainly relevant. Another thing he mentions is that we know from Paul's epistles that some Christians owned homes, which they used to house churches. This seems to line up with what Jesus said about making good use of what we've been given.
                  "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

                  Comment

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